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Bengals Booth Podcast: Welcome to the Family · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi again everybody. I'm Dan Ward and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Boot Podcast. Nah, welcome to the family edition
0:13
Speaker 1: as we meet the two newest members of the Bengals
0:16
Speaker 1: Scouting Department, Josh Hinch and Tyler Ramsey. Then it's the
0:22
Speaker 1: latest edition of five Questions with one of this year's
0:24
Speaker 1: draft picks, followed by five observations after watching practice. The
0:30
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corp,
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Speaker 1: Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
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Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
0:44
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
0:48
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's
0:52
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
0:54
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or
0:58
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the
1:02
Speaker 1: greatest thing since Johnny's Lunch. I was back in my
1:07
Speaker 1: hometown of Lakewood, New York recently to celebrate my stepfather's
1:12
Speaker 1: ninetieth birthday. It was awesome to see him, my mom,
1:16
Speaker 1: my four siblings, and to eat at Johnny's Lunch. Johnny's
1:22
Speaker 1: is like the Skyline Chili of my hometown, a local
1:26
Speaker 1: delicacy that you miss if you move away. There are
1:30
Speaker 1: a wide variety of things on the menu, but you
1:32
Speaker 1: really go there for one reason, the Texas hots. They're
1:37
Speaker 1: hot dogs or hamburgers. If you prefer covered with Johnny's
1:41
Speaker 1: famous sauce. You can add mustard and onions as well.
1:46
Speaker 1: The sauce is more like a gravy. They list the
1:49
Speaker 1: ingredients as ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and spices, but the
1:54
Speaker 1: spices are a secret recipe that gives the sauce its kick.
2:00
Speaker 1: I wof down three of the hot dogs and bought
2:03
Speaker 1: a container of the sauce to go, And yes, if
2:06
Speaker 1: you're interested, they do ship the sauce. If you want
2:10
Speaker 1: to try it, go to Johnny's Lunch dot com and
2:15
Speaker 1: send me a picture on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if
2:18
Speaker 1: you do. Now let's get to my first guest. The
2:22
Speaker 1: Bengals recently lost one of their scouts, as Christian Sarkesian
2:27
Speaker 1: left to become the football gm at Northwestern, his alma mater.
2:31
Speaker 1: But the Bengals weren't short staffed for long, as they
2:34
Speaker 1: announced the addition of two scouts on Monday, Josh Hinch,
2:39
Speaker 1: who spent the last four years with the Patriots after
2:42
Speaker 1: previously working for Tampa Bay, and Tyler Ramsey, whose NFL
2:46
Speaker 1: experience includes twelve years in Seattle and three in Carolina.
2:51
Speaker 1: We get to know them on this edition of the Pod,
2:54
Speaker 1: beginning alphabetically with Josh Hinch. Josh, let's start with your
2:59
Speaker 1: path to the NFL. You were running back at Nazarene
3:02
Speaker 1: University and then South Carolina. Was the goal then to
3:07
Speaker 1: have a career in football in some way, shape or form.
3:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I just my whole life.
3:13
Speaker 3: I grew up playing, playing the sport, loving the sport,
3:17
Speaker 3: and after I found out, you know that my dreams
3:21
Speaker 3: of being an NFL player were going to come to
3:23
Speaker 3: an end, had to find another avenue to at least
3:26
Speaker 3: stay in the game. So initially it was coaching. That's
3:30
Speaker 3: really all I knew. But the longer I was in
3:32
Speaker 3: the business, the more options and opportunities came about as
3:37
Speaker 3: far as scouting in front office opportunities.
3:40
Speaker 1: How did you transition from coaching to a front office
3:44
Speaker 1: type career?
3:45
Speaker 2: Right?
3:46
Speaker 3: So with coaching, that's how I had to start. Right
3:48
Speaker 3: after my college career. That experience was great, but once
3:53
Speaker 3: I wanted to you know, elevate myself and push myself
3:57
Speaker 3: and just try to move up in the rank, so
4:00
Speaker 3: to say, from divisions to this competition, more opportunities came about.
4:05
Speaker 3: So when I was at South Carolina, when I went
4:08
Speaker 3: back the intern, I had opportunity to meet some coaches,
4:11
Speaker 3: particularly at Northwestern, developed some relationships and ended up finding
4:17
Speaker 3: a recruiting avenue at Northwestern.
4:19
Speaker 2: So that's how I kind of transitioned.
4:22
Speaker 1: Your resume is interesting. It includes stints in the XFL
4:26
Speaker 1: and the AAF as a director of player personnel. You're young, now,
4:31
Speaker 1: how old were you then and what was that experience like?
4:36
Speaker 3: So around twenty nine and thirty years old? That was
4:40
Speaker 3: obviously a blessing in disguise. I didn't know what I
4:42
Speaker 3: was getting myself into, necessarily because the the you know,
4:47
Speaker 3: they didn't exist, you know, and so way back when
4:50
Speaker 3: you know, the USFL a long time ago before I
4:53
Speaker 3: was born, you know. But when the XFL and the
4:56
Speaker 3: AAF there were just a blessing for me for my
5:00
Speaker 3: professonal development and just everything that I've learned, the people
5:03
Speaker 3: that I worked with, just my expanding my knowledge on
5:09
Speaker 3: just the full aspect of running and constructing a team.
5:12
Speaker 3: I mean that those opportunities and those experiences were great.
5:16
Speaker 1: Most recently, you've been with the New England Patriots, where
5:20
Speaker 1: your job title was the Southeast Area scout. What leagues
5:23
Speaker 1: and teams did you cover?
5:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, so mostly from say the state of South Carolina
5:29
Speaker 3: down through Florida, and then you pushed west through Mississippi,
5:34
Speaker 3: so you got Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, some
5:39
Speaker 3: parts of Tennessee.
5:41
Speaker 2: So just mainly the Southeast area.
5:43
Speaker 1: It sounds like there must have been a lot of
5:45
Speaker 1: current Bengals that you've scouted extensively. What guys were you
5:51
Speaker 1: really high on that you're going to be around now?
5:56
Speaker 3: You know, Dan, you know four out of the six
5:59
Speaker 3: you know that I spent a lot of time on evaluated,
6:04
Speaker 3: getting to know the person and the player. I'm excited
6:07
Speaker 3: for all four, I mean I really am. From this
6:10
Speaker 3: year's draft, Yeah, absolutely, just particularly you know, Demetrius Knight,
6:14
Speaker 3: Dylan Fairchild, Barry Carter and Jalen Rivers. All four of
6:18
Speaker 3: those guys I was high on throughout my process with
6:22
Speaker 3: the Patriots, not only as a player, but as a person.
6:26
Speaker 3: One thing that stuck out to me about these four
6:29
Speaker 3: guys were just the character on these guys. With the
6:32
Speaker 3: type of guys that they are, they're going to be
6:34
Speaker 3: ready to rock and roll pretty early.
6:37
Speaker 2: And these guys love football.
6:40
Speaker 1: Speaking of Demetrius Knights specifically, as soon as you meet
6:44
Speaker 1: the guy, you think, all right, he's going to be
6:46
Speaker 1: a captain someday. What about the on the field player?
6:50
Speaker 1: What jumped out to you there?
6:53
Speaker 3: For me, it was just the physicality, the unique size,
6:57
Speaker 3: play strength. He played around on two forty is you know,
7:01
Speaker 3: I had two thirties and he can run. He can run,
7:05
Speaker 3: he can close, He's explosive, he's a grown man you
7:08
Speaker 3: know already, you know, so he's gonna come in right
7:10
Speaker 3: ready to roll. And also the instincts and just the
7:13
Speaker 3: overall football intellect you can see on the field. He
7:17
Speaker 3: knows what he sees, He triggers and he goes.
7:21
Speaker 1: You mentioned Dylan Fairchild as well, the third round offensive
7:24
Speaker 1: lineman out of Georgia. What caught your eye when you
7:26
Speaker 1: watched him?
7:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, so Dylan, he really caught my last spring as
7:32
Speaker 3: far as doing the spring scouting process, just the size,
7:37
Speaker 3: the athleticism, the play strength, just all those components put together.
7:44
Speaker 3: He just he's gonna make a for a really good
7:47
Speaker 3: guard for a long time in the league.
7:49
Speaker 2: Like all these guys, and like all the draft.
7:51
Speaker 3: Picks, and just like us, you and I, we have
7:54
Speaker 3: stuff to develop and clean up and you know, critique,
7:58
Speaker 3: but the natural traits, you know, the stuff that you
8:02
Speaker 3: have to project. I think there's a high seiling for Dylan.
8:05
Speaker 1: We are visiting the Bengal scout, Josh Hinch. Who are
8:08
Speaker 1: some of your biggest mentors in football?
8:12
Speaker 4: Yeah?
8:12
Speaker 2: I mean I would just have to say so.
8:15
Speaker 3: On my journey, in my path, one guy that sticks
8:18
Speaker 3: out is Clayton Kendrick Holmes. He's the chief of Staff
8:22
Speaker 3: and Army right now. But he gave me opportunity for
8:26
Speaker 3: my first job out of college, taking a chance on me.
8:31
Speaker 3: It was in the Bronx, New York. It was a
8:33
Speaker 3: Division III school and kind of like a regiment in
8:36
Speaker 3: military based school. And he threw me in the fire
8:41
Speaker 3: right away, you know, and let me do everything, you know,
8:44
Speaker 3: from handling the position to run intramural intramurials for the college,
8:49
Speaker 3: to uh doing the laundry, to game plan into everything.
8:53
Speaker 3: So I was exposed to a lot, and I have
8:56
Speaker 3: nothing but gratitude for Clayton for a year and me
9:00
Speaker 3: started so early, and then after that just goes on
9:03
Speaker 3: to coach Sperrier even as a player at South Carolina
9:06
Speaker 3: to being able to work with him hand in hand.
9:09
Speaker 2: As his DPP for the AAF.
9:13
Speaker 3: A really good mentor just uh showing me the way
9:16
Speaker 3: of just having fun with it and join the process
9:20
Speaker 3: by also getting the work done at the same time.
9:23
Speaker 2: Uh.
9:23
Speaker 3: And Tim Ruskll who's a former NFL GM. Uh, he was,
9:27
Speaker 3: he was with me in the AAF and he kind
9:30
Speaker 3: of uh he springboarded me and he was there for me.
9:34
Speaker 3: But he allowed me to just you know, get the
9:37
Speaker 3: full experience and take matters into my own hands. And
9:40
Speaker 3: he really trusted me and my evaluation process and he
9:44
Speaker 3: really helped me out a lot. And Mark Treustman, he
9:48
Speaker 3: taught me a lot to showed me a lot of
9:50
Speaker 3: attention to detail. And this is all from then, you know,
9:53
Speaker 3: the a F and XFL. Now you know, this is
9:55
Speaker 3: before I got to the Patriots. It was just more
10:00
Speaker 3: trustmen just the way he went about his everyday uh,
10:05
Speaker 3: just process, you know, a very detailed guy man. So
10:09
Speaker 3: it was those those guys managed stick out to me.
10:12
Speaker 1: What attracted you to the possibility of working with the Bengals.
10:17
Speaker 3: I would just say, warned, the opportunity, the continuity, uh
10:23
Speaker 3: that the Bengals have in the front office, the type
10:26
Speaker 3: of people that they have in the front office.
10:29
Speaker 2: The way they respect who.
10:31
Speaker 3: You are, and the value that they saw in me
10:35
Speaker 3: that I could bring to the table and vice versa.
10:38
Speaker 3: Is just an exciting situation and opportunity for both parties,
10:42
Speaker 3: for me and the Cincinnati Bengals.
10:45
Speaker 1: Did you have any pre existing friendships or relationships on
10:48
Speaker 1: the staff?
10:49
Speaker 3: So I knew Trey Brown through the Spring League, So
10:52
Speaker 3: the aa F and the XFL gained a lot of
10:56
Speaker 3: respect for trade throughout that those those are those opportunities,
11:01
Speaker 3: and we just kept in touch, you know, since then,
11:04
Speaker 3: and since we've both been in the league, we just
11:06
Speaker 3: you know, gather a true friendship and relationship.
11:12
Speaker 1: It's no secret that the Bengals have a smaller staff
11:15
Speaker 1: than other NFL teams. Because of that, every voice is
11:19
Speaker 1: important and heard. Did that stand out to you about
11:24
Speaker 1: the opportunity of working for Cincinnati?
11:27
Speaker 4: It did, it did.
11:28
Speaker 3: It's just the like I said, the opportunity and so
11:33
Speaker 3: my voice could be heard and I can really prove
11:36
Speaker 3: my value and show my worth and also just helped
11:40
Speaker 3: the team as a whole. That was really an intriguing
11:44
Speaker 3: part of the process.
11:46
Speaker 1: Joshua, Evaluating a player, what are some of the most
11:48
Speaker 1: important traits that you look for?
11:51
Speaker 3: Every player is his own guy, you know, But I
11:54
Speaker 3: love you know, instincts. You know, instincts number one, because
11:58
Speaker 3: instincts happen at every position, you know, no matter how
12:02
Speaker 3: big you are, how small you are, how well do
12:04
Speaker 3: you see the game. It's something that I really look
12:08
Speaker 3: forward to evaluating them, looking at and just the you know,
12:11
Speaker 3: overall movement skills.
12:13
Speaker 2: I love speed sort of play.
12:14
Speaker 3: Speed, and just just the fluidity and just just the
12:19
Speaker 3: overall movement skills of the guy, you know, at any position.
12:24
Speaker 3: That's that's the beauty of the sport in this game.
12:27
Speaker 3: There's so many different positions that you can evaluate in
12:30
Speaker 3: so many different ways that guys move around and have
12:33
Speaker 3: to move around to get the point at the point B.
12:36
Speaker 3: And then just obvious you know, per position, what do
12:38
Speaker 3: they for their position?
12:40
Speaker 2: What do they do? Well, that's what I look at
12:42
Speaker 2: look for.
12:44
Speaker 1: How about character? How does a scout try to get
12:47
Speaker 1: to the bottom of somebody's character.
12:50
Speaker 3: You know, you're dealing with you know, human error, right,
12:53
Speaker 3: So it's a lot of ways. You just gotta dig
12:57
Speaker 3: deep and really trust the process and trust your resources,
13:01
Speaker 3: and you know, gather a bunch of information whether it
13:05
Speaker 3: be one year or two years or even longer, and
13:09
Speaker 3: you you just got to trust your process and come
13:12
Speaker 3: to your own opinion with all the information collected. And
13:16
Speaker 3: then also, you know, we do a good job the
13:19
Speaker 3: league itself as far as checking every box throughout the
13:23
Speaker 3: pre draft process to make sure you get what you
13:25
Speaker 3: need so from from you know, visiting schools and talking
13:29
Speaker 3: to your resources. But then after the season you get
13:31
Speaker 3: to actually sit down with these guys and whether whether
13:34
Speaker 3: it be the All Star process or the combine process
13:37
Speaker 3: or the Pro day process, so all that information you
13:41
Speaker 3: should be able to you know, make an accurate decision
13:43
Speaker 3: at the end of the day.
13:45
Speaker 1: Are any of those events especially valuable to you, whether
13:50
Speaker 1: it is the combine, an All Star Game, a Pro Day, whatever.
13:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think every event throughout the process it's special
14:01
Speaker 3: in his own way. You and you can get valuable information. Uh.
14:06
Speaker 3: But if I had to pick one to answer your question, Uh,
14:09
Speaker 3: the pro days, you know, the pro days because you
14:13
Speaker 3: get the you get to really interact, uh with the
14:16
Speaker 3: with the player and the coach. You get to see
14:18
Speaker 3: obviously you know they're in shorts and they're running around,
14:20
Speaker 3: but it's just the process of sitting and being able
14:23
Speaker 3: to sit down with these players in the meetings with
14:26
Speaker 3: the coaches and really uh you can hash out you
14:30
Speaker 3: know what you what you think may be concerns or
14:33
Speaker 3: if they don't have any concerns at all, just really
14:35
Speaker 3: getting to know the guy again. And then also the
14:38
Speaker 3: thirty visits are fun too as well, uh, bringing these
14:41
Speaker 3: bringing these guys in and being able to uh get
14:44
Speaker 3: to know the full aspect of the guy, you know,
14:46
Speaker 3: the character, the mental uh and everything that you If
14:51
Speaker 3: you do have concerns, at the end of the day,
14:53
Speaker 3: those thirty visions selves should answer answer those questions.
14:57
Speaker 1: Chatting with Bengals scout Josh Hench, how has ni L
15:02
Speaker 1: and the transfer portal impacted the job of a scout?
15:06
Speaker 3: So with ni L, with these guys getting you know,
15:10
Speaker 3: getting more more money, I think it for me, I
15:13
Speaker 3: think it's just you can kind of see a little
15:15
Speaker 3: bit more of the character, how they handle their money,
15:17
Speaker 3: you know, what they do with it, how they react
15:20
Speaker 3: to it. And then the transfer portal, I would say,
15:25
Speaker 3: you know, it happens so much. I think nowadays the
15:27
Speaker 3: transfer portal is kind of risen above you know, just
15:33
Speaker 3: the average high schools, high school scouting, you know, evaluating, recruiting,
15:39
Speaker 3: because it's because the portal for me, uh, these guys
15:43
Speaker 3: can ah can absolutely come in one year and get
15:49
Speaker 3: a lot of money, come into a new environment, not
15:52
Speaker 3: know anything.
15:53
Speaker 2: And then and also with the schools.
15:55
Speaker 3: You know, the schools may not know these guys until
15:58
Speaker 3: towards the end of the year because they're they're just
16:00
Speaker 3: insfering in right. So that's the impact that our jobs
16:03
Speaker 3: from a standpoint of we like to get character early,
16:06
Speaker 3: you know, and within the process let the film play
16:09
Speaker 3: itself out from an evaluation standpoint, but we want to
16:11
Speaker 3: try to get to know these guys family situation and
16:14
Speaker 3: just who they are early on. And I think all
16:16
Speaker 3: the transfer, all the transfer situations, you have to rely
16:19
Speaker 3: on where they've been in the past, and if you have,
16:22
Speaker 3: if you don't have that same school or cover the
16:24
Speaker 3: same area, then you you know, the information that you're gathering,
16:27
Speaker 3: you're kind of relying on someone else's If that makes sense.
16:33
Speaker 1: The life of a scout is not the easiest. There's
16:36
Speaker 1: lots of travel, they're obviously long hours. What do you
16:40
Speaker 1: love about the job?
16:42
Speaker 3: I think, at the end of the day, it's just football.
16:45
Speaker 3: I mean, if you love football, you love everything about it,
16:49
Speaker 3: from being as a player to being as a coach,
16:52
Speaker 3: now being as a scout. Understanding that all those things
16:57
Speaker 3: tie together, and for me, scouting really fit my personality
17:02
Speaker 3: more at the end of the day, if that makes sense.
17:05
Speaker 3: From being able to experience being as a player and
17:07
Speaker 3: the coach, I just loved the aspect of constructing the
17:11
Speaker 3: roster and evaluating players and seeing things come to fruition
17:17
Speaker 3: and just working with like minded people into seeing the
17:21
Speaker 3: goals be achieved and come come to life. So that's
17:25
Speaker 3: what I love about scouting.
17:27
Speaker 1: How were your teams in the XFL and the AAF.
17:32
Speaker 4: So.
17:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:33
Speaker 3: In the AAF we we went seventy one before the
17:37
Speaker 3: league kind of unfolded, so we were on the role there.
17:43
Speaker 2: It was.
17:43
Speaker 3: It was, it was good, it was it was a
17:45
Speaker 3: good team. The XFLUH, we weren't as good record wise,
17:51
Speaker 3: but I think overall, I think we had a good
17:54
Speaker 3: team as well. We had we had a good offense
17:57
Speaker 3: and defense, just more or less coming together is going
17:59
Speaker 3: to make us a little bit more time to come together,
18:02
Speaker 3: as I felt like we were down a stretch and
18:04
Speaker 3: then Covid struck.
18:07
Speaker 1: Everybody that does this is trying to win a ring.
18:11
Speaker 1: What do you think of the Bengals roster as you
18:14
Speaker 1: join the organization.
18:15
Speaker 2: I think it's a win now roster. I think there's
18:19
Speaker 2: they're ready to go.
18:20
Speaker 3: Obviously, it's a high octane offense as far as you know,
18:25
Speaker 3: skill players and the quarterback. Obviously, the offensive line I
18:29
Speaker 3: think is will be very improved this year. Defensively too.
18:35
Speaker 3: With everything that's going on with the you know, from
18:39
Speaker 3: the draft picks to the veterans to the coaches.
18:42
Speaker 2: It's early for.
18:43
Speaker 3: Me right, so I really couldn't speak too much on it,
18:46
Speaker 3: but I do feel like everything is going to be
18:49
Speaker 3: improved and ready to compete at a high level.
18:53
Speaker 1: You're in your mid thirties. What's your ultimate goal professionally?
18:58
Speaker 3: To win the Super Bowl? I haven't won a Super
19:01
Speaker 3: Bowl yet, so that's my ultimate goal. To win Super
19:06
Speaker 3: Bowl by any means. I don't really care about what
19:09
Speaker 3: title I have. I just want to do that. But
19:13
Speaker 3: I also would like to, you know, be a contributor
19:16
Speaker 3: and show my value on a Super Bowl, on a
19:18
Speaker 3: Super Bowl roster in the Super Bowl team, which I
19:21
Speaker 3: think this, you know, knock on wood, guy Will and
19:24
Speaker 3: I think this is the opportunity, you know. So I'm
19:27
Speaker 3: just gonna work my butt off and do my best
19:30
Speaker 3: and do my part and see where it goes.
19:33
Speaker 1: We're excited to have you with the organization. I look
19:36
Speaker 1: forward to meeting you in person, and I appreciate your
19:37
Speaker 1: time today.
19:38
Speaker 2: Thank you, Josh, thank you, Dan. Appreciate it.
19:42
Speaker 1: Up next Tyler Ramsey, who will look to add a
19:45
Speaker 1: Bengal Super Bowl ring to the one he earned while
19:48
Speaker 1: scouting for Seattle. Tyler, did you grow up dreaming of
19:52
Speaker 1: a career in football?
19:55
Speaker 5: I dreamt. I had a lot of dreams.
19:58
Speaker 6: But when I I realized I wasn't going to be
20:01
Speaker 6: in the NBA, you know, I started evaluating other athletes
20:05
Speaker 6: around me and realized that I had a pretty good
20:08
Speaker 6: eye for it, so kind of fell into it. Got
20:11
Speaker 6: pretty lucky to graduating in the recession in two thousand
20:15
Speaker 6: and eight. I thought that was, you know, going to
20:18
Speaker 6: go into banking or be a financial analyst or something
20:20
Speaker 6: like that, and the fact that nobody was hiring anybody
20:22
Speaker 6: at the time kind of did me well because I
20:25
Speaker 6: was able to pivot and you know, chase chase a
20:27
Speaker 6: dream and I've always been a competitor, always been an athlete, so.
20:31
Speaker 5: You know, working in professional sports was a goal for sure.
20:34
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk a little bit about your athletic days.
20:36
Speaker 1: Because you're from the state of Washington. You went to
20:39
Speaker 1: a high school that's got a storied football history and traditions,
20:43
Speaker 1: a tradition rather eleven state titles in a thirteen year period,
20:47
Speaker 1: and you are part of three of those state championships.
20:49
Speaker 1: How did that impact your love of this sport?
20:52
Speaker 6: It was a well oiled machine. Out of those the
20:56
Speaker 6: two years we did not win after I had already
20:59
Speaker 6: graduate weight it was against Kellen Moore, who's who's now
21:02
Speaker 6: an NFL head coach, and Jake Locker, who was a
21:04
Speaker 6: four first round pick.
21:05
Speaker 5: So we had some pretty steep competition.
21:08
Speaker 6: But it really set the foundation, you know, for work
21:11
Speaker 6: ethic and discipline and you know, toughness, Like there would
21:15
Speaker 6: be one hundred and ten guys in that program that
21:17
Speaker 6: would be in the weight room the Monday morning after
21:19
Speaker 6: the state championship and it was just like all the
21:21
Speaker 6: work you put in the off season, all the work
21:23
Speaker 6: you put in is gonna you know, pay off a
21:25
Speaker 6: year from now and and not just steamrolled for you know,
21:28
Speaker 6: well over a decade of just kind of a blue
21:30
Speaker 6: collar work ethic and the toughness about us.
21:32
Speaker 5: We ran the wing t so you know, just run
21:35
Speaker 5: the heck.
21:35
Speaker 6: Out of the ball and play good defense. It was
21:37
Speaker 6: a winning recipe in the state of Washington when I
21:40
Speaker 6: was there.
21:41
Speaker 1: You went to the University of Washington, but did not
21:43
Speaker 1: play football correct.
21:45
Speaker 6: Correct, Like I said, it was a wing te quarterback.
21:48
Speaker 6: So my highlight tape was very, very small. Graduating high school,
21:54
Speaker 6: so I had some opportunities to to you know, go
21:56
Speaker 6: to Division three schools and.
21:58
Speaker 5: You know, potentially compete for first spot there.
22:01
Speaker 6: But you know, kind of did someself scouting there as
22:03
Speaker 6: a as a you know, teenager, and figured that my
22:07
Speaker 6: future wasn't on the on the field, so you might
22:09
Speaker 6: as well get my life started and go through the
22:11
Speaker 6: business school at the University of Washington.
22:13
Speaker 1: We are visiting the Bengal scout Tyler Ramsey. Let's talk
22:15
Speaker 1: about your professional career. You spent a dozen years with
22:19
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. You were on the staff when they won
22:22
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl in the twenty thirteen season of forty
22:25
Speaker 1: three to eight win in the Super Bowl over the
22:27
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. Can you describe the emotion of when the
22:31
Speaker 1: confetti is falling in a game like that.
22:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was totally surreal.
22:37
Speaker 6: I mean, I think it was a safety on the
22:38
Speaker 6: first play of the game that went over Payton Manning's head,
22:40
Speaker 6: so at halftime, I think it was twenty two to zero.
22:43
Speaker 6: Percy Harvin returned to kick at the beginning of the
22:46
Speaker 6: second half of his twenty nine to zero and it's
22:48
Speaker 6: just such a weird, you know, excitement sitting there for
22:51
Speaker 6: almost two more quarters, being like, I think we just
22:53
Speaker 6: won the Super Bowl, but you know, you still got
22:55
Speaker 6: to finish the game, and the team did a great job,
22:57
Speaker 6: you know, finishing it out.
22:59
Speaker 5: So it was all it was.
23:00
Speaker 6: It was It was a very elongated emotion because you
23:02
Speaker 6: were sitting there just on the edge of your seat, like,
23:04
Speaker 6: when can we get down to the field and get
23:06
Speaker 6: with the team.
23:07
Speaker 1: How does winning one ring affect your desire to win another?
23:12
Speaker 4: Oh?
23:12
Speaker 6: I mean that's that's why we're all doing this, is
23:15
Speaker 6: to you know, hoys to the trophy at the end
23:18
Speaker 6: if you're if you're a competitor, obviously there's a lot
23:21
Speaker 6: of stuff around the game, but it made me hungrier.
23:24
Speaker 6: I was trying to you know, we were fortunate enough
23:27
Speaker 6: to get back that next year and and didn't turn
23:31
Speaker 6: out so well, but it really motivated me. I actually,
23:34
Speaker 6: uh signed up for grad school immediately after that second
23:38
Speaker 6: Super Bowl, just being like, how can I challenge myself?
23:40
Speaker 5: How can I do something better?
23:42
Speaker 6: And got my master's in business administration while I was
23:46
Speaker 6: scouting for the Seahawks.
23:47
Speaker 5: So it really you know, kind of stoked a fire.
23:49
Speaker 5: Like you know, being the best in the world takes
23:51
Speaker 5: takes a lot.
23:52
Speaker 6: So we we need to continue to kind of you know,
23:55
Speaker 6: grow and and and push the limits. And personally, that's
23:58
Speaker 6: going back to school felt like the right choice the time.
24:01
Speaker 1: Tyler, who are your biggest football mentors?
24:04
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'd probably go a little bit back to high
24:07
Speaker 6: school as well as with the Seahawks. In high school,
24:11
Speaker 6: my head coach, Butch Gonchrof, who was there for all
24:13
Speaker 6: those championship runs, really you know, instilled kind of the
24:17
Speaker 6: work ethic and blue collar, you know style. He was
24:22
Speaker 6: a really demanding coach, but he was always your friend.
24:26
Speaker 6: He he made you want to play for him and
24:28
Speaker 6: just his kind of genuine style just being an authentic
24:31
Speaker 6: butch my defensive coordinator. There was James Hasty, the former
24:35
Speaker 6: dB for the Chiefs Jets, and ironically he was the
24:40
Speaker 6: original bump and run, you know, prototype corner for Pete
24:43
Speaker 6: Carroll when he was with the Jets. And then I
24:46
Speaker 6: was fortunate enough to work with Pete in twenty ten,
24:48
Speaker 6: my second year in the league, and and you know,
24:50
Speaker 6: eleven years after that. But Pete, Pete is always going
24:52
Speaker 6: to be a huge influence. He's He's got a rare
24:56
Speaker 6: quality about him in terms of, you know, just the charisma,
24:59
Speaker 6: that energy, the passion, the competitiveness.
25:03
Speaker 5: He he makes football fun again. And you could talk
25:05
Speaker 5: to any of the.
25:05
Speaker 6: Players that have ever played for him of how much
25:08
Speaker 6: you know, they refell in love with the game, uh
25:10
Speaker 6: under under his leadership.
25:13
Speaker 1: How does somebody learn how to become a scout? Are
25:15
Speaker 1: you taught? Is it trial and error? How did you
25:18
Speaker 1: develop the skills for this profession?
25:22
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know it can be a little bit top
25:25
Speaker 6: but there there's definitely some some instinct involved. A lot
25:28
Speaker 6: of scouting is obviously gathering information, and you know, just
25:31
Speaker 6: being detail oriented and and and and having you know,
25:34
Speaker 6: the personality to walk into a you know, a Division
25:37
Speaker 6: one coaches office and ask for information when he doesn't
25:40
Speaker 6: have a reason to or or trust you or.
25:42
Speaker 5: Know you at all.
25:43
Speaker 6: So you've got to have a little savvy there. And
25:45
Speaker 6: then the instincts when it comes to just evaluating the
25:48
Speaker 6: way a guy moves, what what a team's going to
25:50
Speaker 6: be asking him to do, and does he have the
25:52
Speaker 6: physical capability in his body to do that. That's just
25:56
Speaker 6: something that I've kind of always possessed. I've always you know,
25:58
Speaker 6: looked around on any athletic field and I'm mad like
26:00
Speaker 6: that guy moves different than everybody else, or you know,
26:03
Speaker 6: watching the NBA growing up every Sunday on NBC with
26:06
Speaker 6: just being like having an appreciation for God given talent
26:10
Speaker 6: that I never had.
26:12
Speaker 5: This is something that I've always possessed.
26:13
Speaker 6: But you can definitely work on all the ins and
26:16
Speaker 6: outs of details, but at the end of the day,
26:18
Speaker 6: if you're working hard and watching film and writing the
26:22
Speaker 6: wrong grades and putting the wrong projections on players, You're
26:25
Speaker 6: not gonna be in the business that long.
26:27
Speaker 1: What traits do you prioritize as a scout.
26:30
Speaker 6: I think there's, you know, a minimum threshold of athleticism
26:34
Speaker 6: and speed and all that stuff, and if you don't
26:35
Speaker 6: meet those, you're just gonna really struggle no matter how
26:38
Speaker 6: you know, smart and tough and competitive you are. But
26:40
Speaker 6: once you get over that minimum threshold, depending on the position,
26:44
Speaker 6: you know, it's really the competitiveness and the passion and
26:47
Speaker 6: the toughness. You know, there's always gonna be hard days,
26:49
Speaker 6: there's gonna be bad plays, there's.
26:50
Speaker 5: Gonna be.
26:52
Speaker 6: You know, things that don't go your way, and to
26:54
Speaker 6: have the competitive confidence in yourself to continue to just
26:58
Speaker 6: come back and next play mentality. I think that really
27:01
Speaker 6: carries a lot of players in the league because it's
27:03
Speaker 6: it's not smooth sale. They've always been the best player
27:05
Speaker 6: they get to the league and everybody's the best player
27:07
Speaker 6: from everywhere. So just having somewhat of an irrational confidence
27:12
Speaker 6: that that you can succeed despite you know, everything that's
27:15
Speaker 6: going on around you.
27:18
Speaker 5: You like to see that.
27:19
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Bengals scout Tyler Ramsey. What attract did
27:22
Speaker 1: you to working for Cincinnati?
27:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, obviously I had some connections in the front office
27:28
Speaker 6: with with Steve and and Trey and guys that I
27:30
Speaker 6: have developed relationships over the years, crossing you know a
27:34
Speaker 6: lot of pass scouting out west back back in their
27:37
Speaker 6: early days in the League of Mine as well, and.
27:39
Speaker 5: We developed a good relationship.
27:40
Speaker 6: So and and I've always had a ton of respect
27:43
Speaker 6: for for you know, getting out on the road and
27:44
Speaker 6: seeing Bengals coaches out there and doing workouts and really
27:47
Speaker 6: doing the work and collaborating with the staff. And then
27:50
Speaker 6: as well as the setup. You know, everybody talks about,
27:53
Speaker 6: you know, a small front office, but I think it's great.
27:55
Speaker 6: I think you have in your hands in pro and
27:57
Speaker 6: college scouting and really being being part of the decision
28:00
Speaker 6: making process and being a part of the team puts
28:02
Speaker 6: a lot on your plate and it forces you to
28:04
Speaker 6: you know, to grow, to learn, to to you know,
28:07
Speaker 6: get outside your comfort zone a little bit. And then
28:09
Speaker 6: obviously you know coach Taylor, I've heard nothing but awesome
28:12
Speaker 6: things about and then having you know, Joe Burrow, Jamar
28:15
Speaker 6: Chase t Higgins and an offense that's high flying is exciting.
28:21
Speaker 1: With the smaller staff, every voice matters and every voice
28:25
Speaker 1: is heard. Is that something that's appealing to you about
28:28
Speaker 1: coming to Cincinnati.
28:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, of course you you I mean you do the work.
28:33
Speaker 5: If you do the work, and you you know, put
28:37
Speaker 5: spending the amount of hours that we do, you know,
28:39
Speaker 5: away from our families, on the road, digging guys up
28:42
Speaker 5: at small schools, doing all that stuff. Feeling like that
28:45
Speaker 5: matters when you say something is really important.
28:49
Speaker 6: I've gone years, I've been around a lot of good people,
28:52
Speaker 6: but I've gone years where we haven't acquired a single player.
28:54
Speaker 5: That I evaluated in my area.
28:56
Speaker 6: Or after the draft, and you just kind of, you know,
28:58
Speaker 6: like I just spent nine months doing and we didn't
29:00
Speaker 6: ad a single guy, uh that I scouted, which you
29:03
Speaker 6: know happens. So just being able to put the work
29:08
Speaker 6: in have your voice heard, whether it's you know, they
29:12
Speaker 6: truly believe and I want to go with your opinion
29:14
Speaker 6: or not that that happens, but you know it gives you,
29:19
Speaker 6: you know, ownership and agency over your own your own
29:22
Speaker 6: job and really makes you hold yourself to a higher standard.
29:26
Speaker 1: After your time in Seattle, you spent a few years
29:28
Speaker 1: in Carolina and then last year working with the Senior
29:31
Speaker 1: Bowl staff. In those roles are their current Bengals that
29:35
Speaker 1: you scouted extensively, that you are high on and kind
29:40
Speaker 1: of looking forward to now being part of the same team.
29:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean Demitrius Knight would be one of them.
29:46
Speaker 6: The second round pick. I followed him pretty closely this
29:49
Speaker 6: past year living in Charlotte. I went to a couple
29:51
Speaker 6: of South Carolina games and learned quite a bit about
29:53
Speaker 6: him and his whole story from Georgia Tech to you
29:57
Speaker 6: Charlotte to South Carolina. Is a pretty cool one, really
30:00
Speaker 6: mature kid. I think he's got a ton of upside too,
30:03
Speaker 6: So I'm excited to see him really step in and compete.
30:07
Speaker 6: You know, Schmart Stewarts is likewise like he was a
30:11
Speaker 6: guy that you couldn't help. But notice on tape how big,
30:14
Speaker 6: how athletic, how disruptive, how hard he plays like he
30:17
Speaker 6: is a competitor. So I'm excited to see him actually
30:20
Speaker 6: get on the field and all that. But those two
30:22
Speaker 6: guys this year definitely jumped off the tape.
30:27
Speaker 1: How is nil in the transfer portal impacted the life
30:32
Speaker 1: of a scout.
30:33
Speaker 6: It definitely adds another layer that you're gonna have to,
30:36
Speaker 6: you know, follow up on relationships from a guy that
30:39
Speaker 6: could potentially be at three schools like Demetrius was.
30:41
Speaker 4: So you got to.
30:43
Speaker 6: Really dig, You got to really find a way to
30:47
Speaker 6: sift through a lot of different information. You know, a
30:50
Speaker 6: school where a guy has some success for a couple
30:53
Speaker 6: of years, then jumps in the portal and and ends
30:55
Speaker 6: up somewhere else for for a higher dollar amount. Naturally
30:59
Speaker 6: the school he left might be a little bit bitter,
31:01
Speaker 6: So the information you're getting out of that school might
31:03
Speaker 6: not be as you know, uh as as uh loving
31:07
Speaker 6: loving a kid up as his current school that he's
31:09
Speaker 6: playing at. So, you know, just having the maturity and
31:13
Speaker 6: and you know, nuance to to sift your way through
31:15
Speaker 6: all the information that that's coming your way definitely takes
31:20
Speaker 6: some skill. But it also, you know, guys are getting
31:24
Speaker 6: paid already, so you don't have to worry about what
31:27
Speaker 6: how they're going to react to money in the NFL,
31:28
Speaker 6: so it's somewhat makes it a little bit easier that
31:31
Speaker 6: they show who they are sooner to us versus you know,
31:34
Speaker 6: you draft a guy and you have no idea how
31:36
Speaker 6: he's going to react to moving and money and all
31:38
Speaker 6: that stuff and and fame, and then they've been exposed
31:41
Speaker 6: to it for the most part, So it's somewhat you know,
31:44
Speaker 6: makes it a little bit easier to see who the
31:46
Speaker 6: real guys are. You know, the running back that that
31:48
Speaker 6: gets a big an aisle check and he and he
31:50
Speaker 6: shares it with all of his offensive lines. Stuff stuff
31:52
Speaker 6: like that, where you can just see the true nature
31:54
Speaker 6: of of guys. Then that stuff that translates to the
31:56
Speaker 6: NFL pretty easily.
31:59
Speaker 1: A life of a scout isn't necessarily an easy one.
32:02
Speaker 1: You travel a lot, you work very long hours. As
32:05
Speaker 1: you noted, you have three young kids. What is it
32:08
Speaker 1: about the job that you love?
32:10
Speaker 5: It's it's really the people.
32:11
Speaker 6: It's it's Football is you know, obviously in my opinion,
32:15
Speaker 6: the best game in the world, just because of the
32:17
Speaker 6: ability to to bring so many people from so many
32:21
Speaker 6: different walks of life together for for a common cause.
32:24
Speaker 5: It's easy to to relate with, you know.
32:27
Speaker 6: It's it's something that the game day still gets me
32:29
Speaker 6: fired up.
32:30
Speaker 5: The athlete of me never went away.
32:31
Speaker 6: So, you know, being able to impact a team and
32:35
Speaker 6: a roster and a culture for guys that I genuinely
32:37
Speaker 6: believe in and and I feel like play the game
32:40
Speaker 6: the right way and and and carry themselves the right way.
32:42
Speaker 5: It's it's just fun trying to trying to build a
32:44
Speaker 5: team like that.
32:45
Speaker 6: So yeah, it's it's it's just you know, always going
32:50
Speaker 6: back to the little kid that fell in love with it,
32:52
Speaker 6: like tap into that passion.
32:55
Speaker 5: Even though it's a it's a tedious job.
32:57
Speaker 6: You got to remember it's you're You're pretty lucky to
33:00
Speaker 6: and blessed to be in this situation.
33:02
Speaker 1: You've got a super Bowl ring. You know what a
33:04
Speaker 1: championship team looks like. How close are the Bengals to
33:08
Speaker 1: being a team that can contend for a Lombardi.
33:11
Speaker 5: I think really close.
33:13
Speaker 6: I'm actually watching our guys right now, so I'm trying
33:15
Speaker 6: to get up caught up to speed before mini camp
33:18
Speaker 6: next week because you obviously know the the main players,
33:21
Speaker 6: but some of the guys that on the depth chart
33:24
Speaker 6: that I'm not too familiar with just want to get
33:26
Speaker 6: a field. But I think when you have you know,
33:30
Speaker 6: number nine behind center and the offensive weapons that he has,
33:33
Speaker 6: it gives you a chance in any game. So I
33:36
Speaker 6: think if a couple of areas, you know, can improve,
33:39
Speaker 6: like it's it's not too far away. It's it's really cool.
33:42
Speaker 6: The NFL is really cool in the sense that every
33:44
Speaker 6: every year is a different year. It's it's not what
33:46
Speaker 6: happened last year is now what's going to happen next year?
33:48
Speaker 6: It's like if you capture this you know, six month
33:51
Speaker 6: run and you start gelling like the Bengals did back
33:54
Speaker 6: in twenty one, it can be a special year. So
33:58
Speaker 6: I don't think it's too far away at all, obviously
34:00
Speaker 6: to continue to add.
34:00
Speaker 5: And grow and get better on both sides of the ball.
34:03
Speaker 5: But yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch.
34:06
Speaker 1: Firstand well, we are happy to have you in the
34:08
Speaker 1: Bengals family. I appreciate your time today and look forward
34:11
Speaker 1: to meeting you in person. Thanks so much, Tyler.
34:13
Speaker 5: All right, Dan, thank thank you.
34:16
Speaker 1: Josh and Tyler aren't the only additions to the player
34:18
Speaker 1: personnel department is The Bengals also hired Trey Labounty to
34:23
Speaker 1: join Sam Francis in their football analytics department. Trey earned
34:27
Speaker 1: a master's degree in sports analytics at Miami University. Before
34:32
Speaker 1: getting to my next guest, here's a quick reminder that
34:35
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
34:38
Speaker 1: Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by
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Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future Proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
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Speaker 1: and community to a new level and by Kettering Health
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Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
34:53
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time to
34:58
Speaker 1: move on to another edition Five Questions with a Bengals rookie.
35:03
Speaker 1: Time for five Questions with Bengals rookie offensive lineman Jalen River.
35:07
Speaker 1: Is question number one. You shared with us on draft
35:10
Speaker 1: night that your mom, your dad, and your stepfather all
35:13
Speaker 1: spent more than thirty years in the Navy, So naturally
35:17
Speaker 1: we assume that you had a disciplined childhood. Tell me
35:20
Speaker 1: something that you weren't allowed to do that your buddies were.
35:26
Speaker 4: That's tough because it was so many things.
35:28
Speaker 7: But one thing I will say is I couldn't go
35:33
Speaker 7: out at all during the week, and no matter if
35:39
Speaker 7: I finished my homework or anything like that during the week,
35:41
Speaker 7: didn't matter what age I was in high school, middle school,
35:44
Speaker 7: during the week, no, no school night, No you gotta
35:47
Speaker 7: wake up, you gotta, you gotta. I went to practice,
35:49
Speaker 7: came back, finished my homework, do whatever. And there was
35:52
Speaker 7: a curfew I had sometimes because I'm not a morning
35:55
Speaker 7: person all the time, sayisly when I was in high school.
35:58
Speaker 7: So it was like, oh, you're gonna put you phone
36:01
Speaker 7: downstairs after ten o'clock or something or nine thirty.
36:05
Speaker 1: So yeah, so there are probably times you didn't like that,
36:08
Speaker 1: but it clearly is paid off. Will you do that
36:10
Speaker 1: with your children someday?
36:13
Speaker 7: It's yes, but if they got to show me that
36:16
Speaker 7: the trustworthy did is discipline and they're disciplined enough to
36:19
Speaker 7: put their phone down at certain time. But you know, teenagers,
36:21
Speaker 7: you're probably not.
36:22
Speaker 4: So got one. Probably yeah, so I'll probably do the same.
36:25
Speaker 5: All right.
36:26
Speaker 1: Question number two for Jalen Rivers. We all know that
36:29
Speaker 1: the perfect GPA is four point zero. From what I've read,
36:32
Speaker 1: your GPA in high school was four point three. Did
36:37
Speaker 1: you ever have a B?
36:39
Speaker 4: Yes?
36:39
Speaker 7: I did, yeah, but it was in the high b's
36:45
Speaker 7: you know, anything anything a bee or less. I was
36:48
Speaker 7: mad at myself, so I strived for all a's honor,
36:51
Speaker 7: all a honor roll. But yeah, I did good bees.
36:54
Speaker 1: Well my many obviously of the four to three gpa.
36:57
Speaker 1: Did school come relative flee easily to you? Or was
37:02
Speaker 1: that gpa the the product of a lot of grinding
37:06
Speaker 1: and hard work?
37:07
Speaker 7: A product of a lot of grind and hard work.
37:09
Speaker 7: I mean, I credit to my parents, is me staying
37:11
Speaker 7: on top of my school work. So it was tough
37:16
Speaker 7: because some things I weren't good at, like math, word
37:18
Speaker 7: problems and stuff like that. When I was young, I
37:21
Speaker 7: overthought the question a lot, like it might be, this
37:23
Speaker 7: might be, But you know, ever overcome that over years
37:26
Speaker 7: and you start getting better at it, and it's like,
37:28
Speaker 7: you know, it's kind of getting easy because I put
37:30
Speaker 7: so much work into being a great student.
37:32
Speaker 1: So yeah, Question three for Jalen Rivers. You're a big
37:35
Speaker 1: man six six by three hundred and twenty pounds. Where
37:38
Speaker 1: does your size come from?
37:39
Speaker 4: My family?
37:40
Speaker 7: Both sides, my mom's side, well, both sides of my parents.
37:44
Speaker 7: My granddad's were above six foot, like six two six three.
37:52
Speaker 4: Yeah, both sides, both sides my family.
37:54
Speaker 1: Is your mom six feet.
37:55
Speaker 4: Tall, she's six foot my dad six two sixty three.
37:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was meant to be Question number four. In
38:03
Speaker 1: addition to having a great high school football career, you
38:05
Speaker 1: are a state champion in the shotput. That's one of
38:09
Speaker 1: those events that obviously doesn't attract a bunch of fans.
38:13
Speaker 1: But did you enjoy competing in track and field?
38:17
Speaker 4: I loved it.
38:17
Speaker 7: I enjoyed it every because I started my seventh grade
38:19
Speaker 7: year when I started middle school up until obviously not
38:22
Speaker 7: up to my senior because I end up leaving early
38:24
Speaker 7: to coming up go to Miami.
38:26
Speaker 4: But yep, I enjoyed it. Every single year. I look
38:27
Speaker 4: forward to the spring to be honest, to a thorough
38:30
Speaker 4: shot put all right.
38:31
Speaker 1: Fifth and final question for rookie Jalen Rivers. Tell us
38:34
Speaker 1: something about you. But not many people know.
38:39
Speaker 7: That I'm a great cook. One of my biggest hobbies
38:45
Speaker 7: right now that I've just gotten into, like the past
38:47
Speaker 7: three years, it was cooking so I can cook some
38:50
Speaker 7: chicken pumbers on with some rigatoni, pasta, jerk.
38:55
Speaker 4: Chicken.
38:57
Speaker 7: Stuff, salmon stuff, chicken, home mac and cheese, all that stuff.
39:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking for an invite to your house. Are
39:05
Speaker 1: you good at following a recipe or do you have
39:08
Speaker 1: a natural ability to think, Okay, these spices will work
39:11
Speaker 1: well with this dish, et cetera.
39:13
Speaker 7: No, First I do follow recipe. And then also my
39:15
Speaker 7: dad he's a he's a chef, he's a he caters,
39:17
Speaker 7: so I can get some ideas from him.
39:19
Speaker 4: He teaches me stuff.
39:20
Speaker 7: So but when I fight figure out a recipe, I
39:22
Speaker 7: start putting my own spin on it. When I started
39:24
Speaker 7: learning some new things and tips.
39:26
Speaker 1: Offensive lineman four to three GPA state champion in the
39:31
Speaker 1: shot put in chef Jalen Rivers, We've learned a lot, sir.
39:35
Speaker 4: Nice Meetia.
39:36
Speaker 1: Great to have you here in Cincinnati and thank you,
39:38
Speaker 1: appreciate you.
39:40
Speaker 4: Now let's go.
39:40
Speaker 1: From five questions to five observations after watching the Bengals
39:45
Speaker 1: practice and talking to players and coaches on Tuesday. Topic
39:49
Speaker 1: number one is Cam Taylor Brett. After a disappointing third
39:54
Speaker 1: NFL season that saw him get benched at times, Cam
39:58
Speaker 1: is embracing a fresh start under new defensive coordinator Al Golden.
40:02
Speaker 1: Taylor Brett intercepted Joe Burrow on Tuesday when he lined
40:06
Speaker 1: up as a slot corner and picked off a pass
40:09
Speaker 1: intended for Mike Gasicki on a quick out route. Here's
40:12
Speaker 1: cornerbacks coach Chuck Burks, followed by Taylor Brett. What are
40:16
Speaker 1: you emphasizing with him as you try to get him
40:19
Speaker 1: back to you know the level of play he's capable.
40:22
Speaker 8: Of, just discipline and consistency, and we always talked about
40:26
Speaker 8: tnc doing the things that takes no takes no talent,
40:29
Speaker 8: and you know that's my main focus with him to
40:31
Speaker 8: spring taking care of those things you know stands alignment,
40:34
Speaker 8: assignment and having your eyes in the right place and
40:37
Speaker 8: when mistakes are made, no excuses, no explanations, goes to
40:40
Speaker 8: an explode.
40:41
Speaker 1: Anything stand out on that play that kind of fits
40:45
Speaker 1: what you were talking about.
40:46
Speaker 8: Well, what stands out is he was in his correct
40:48
Speaker 8: leverage and you know that that's where it starts, and
40:53
Speaker 8: he was in position. The ball showed up and once
40:55
Speaker 8: cam gets himself in position, he has better ball skills
40:58
Speaker 8: than you know, a lot of guys I've coached in
41:00
Speaker 8: my career.
41:01
Speaker 6: So now I'm not surprised he.
41:03
Speaker 4: Made that play.
41:04
Speaker 8: So he just has to be consistent in putting himself
41:06
Speaker 8: in position to make that play.
41:09
Speaker 1: Is there anything about that play that illustrates what you're
41:13
Speaker 1: working on to try to have the type of year
41:15
Speaker 1: that you know you're capable of having.
41:17
Speaker 9: Honestly, just put me in different positions on the field
41:19
Speaker 9: to guard different people. I believe on that one, I
41:22
Speaker 9: was just on the tight end at the moment to
41:24
Speaker 9: just held my leverage. Then, regardless of what he did
41:27
Speaker 9: at the top of the road, is just you know,
41:28
Speaker 9: use my guy given ability to go get the ball in.
41:31
Speaker 1: So you're moving around a lot outside slot wherever matter. Yeah,
41:35
Speaker 1: be all over with Mike Hilton gone. Is that what
41:39
Speaker 1: the secondary is going to have to do by a
41:42
Speaker 1: bunch of people moving around to try to make up
41:44
Speaker 1: for his loss?
41:46
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think it's a there's a win at the
41:48
Speaker 9: end of the day, honestly still man, just in the
41:50
Speaker 9: sense of I believe everybody can guard anybody within our
41:53
Speaker 9: back end. It doesn't matter you know, body type or anything.
41:56
Speaker 9: We can all be interchangeable.
41:57
Speaker 4: So yeah, they'll be here there.
42:00
Speaker 1: You just never know at your confidence level at this
42:03
Speaker 1: stage of the ots.
42:05
Speaker 4: That feel great. Yeah, I'm lit right now, man.
42:08
Speaker 9: I know everybody has come in in the right way man,
42:12
Speaker 9: and not even thinking about you know, last year. You know,
42:15
Speaker 9: it's a new mindset for me, for my teammates, and
42:18
Speaker 9: it just at end and they will come.
42:20
Speaker 4: To work every day.
42:21
Speaker 1: By the way, on the very next snap after Cam's interception,
42:25
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow floated a long pass for Jamar Chase, who
42:29
Speaker 1: beat DJ Turner and caught it in stride for a
42:32
Speaker 1: seventy yard touchdown. Topic number two is Dax Hill. I
42:37
Speaker 1: watched Dax working out on a rehab field and it
42:39
Speaker 1: was great to see him running and cutting under the
42:42
Speaker 1: watchful eye of the Bengals outstanding rehab coordinator Nick Cosgray.
42:47
Speaker 1: Dax is coming back from a torn acl that he
42:50
Speaker 1: suffered in early October, and he's hoping to be fully
42:53
Speaker 1: cleared in time for training camp. Once he's back, it
42:57
Speaker 1: will be interesting to see where he lines up up.
43:00
Speaker 1: Hill was the bengals best outside corner in the first
43:04
Speaker 1: five weeks of the season last year, but with Mike
43:06
Speaker 1: Hilton gone, there's an opening at slot corner, where Dak's
43:11
Speaker 1: often lined up in college at Michigan. Once again, here's
43:15
Speaker 1: cornerbacks coach Chuck Burks.
43:17
Speaker 8: Well, with Dax, I'm gonna put him in position to
43:20
Speaker 8: cover in blitz wherever that's at, so corner whatever. You know,
43:25
Speaker 8: he's a guy that has an elite skill set to
43:29
Speaker 8: cover and it has an elite skill set to blitz
43:31
Speaker 8: and I plan to utilize that. And however that really manifests.
43:36
Speaker 1: What is the mix of guys that will compete Tree
43:40
Speaker 1: placed Mike Hilton in the slot all of them.
43:42
Speaker 8: You know, today, we've had or this past week, we've
43:45
Speaker 8: had Cam at Nickel, We've had Josh Newton at Nickel,
43:49
Speaker 8: We've had j d at Nickel. You know, Dax have
43:53
Speaker 8: placed some nickels, So to me, it's really more about matchups,
43:57
Speaker 8: not necessarily positions. We have multiple guys who made up
44:00
Speaker 8: and side, but it's about the matchup of that week
44:03
Speaker 8: and how we plan to approach defending that team that week.
44:06
Speaker 1: Jay D, by the way, is Jalen Davis, who has
44:08
Speaker 1: been a valuable reserve in his five seasons in Cincinnati.
44:13
Speaker 1: Topic three is wide receiver three. The Bengals have the
44:17
Speaker 1: best one to two punch at that position in the
44:19
Speaker 1: league in Jamar Chase and T Higgins. And while there's
44:23
Speaker 1: growing optimism that Jermaine Burton can be a more dependable
44:26
Speaker 1: pro in his second season, we should not forget that
44:30
Speaker 1: the Bengals already have a number three receiver on the
44:33
Speaker 1: rise in Andre Yosi Vash. The third year wide out
44:37
Speaker 1: out of Princeton had thirty six sketches for four hundred
44:40
Speaker 1: and seventy nine yards and six touchdowns last year, then
44:43
Speaker 1: spent another portion of his off season working with renowned
44:47
Speaker 1: receivers coach Drew Lieberman. I discussed Yosi Vash with T.
44:52
Speaker 1: Higgins at this time last year. I remember a lot
44:55
Speaker 1: of guys were talking about Yosi Vash and how much
44:58
Speaker 1: improvement he had made. See seen another step in Andre
45:01
Speaker 1: this year.
45:02
Speaker 10: Oh man, hell yeah, you know, Yoshi, I don't he
45:04
Speaker 10: teaching me, thinks. And it's night and day from from
45:09
Speaker 10: this from last year to this year. And y'all gonna see,
45:13
Speaker 10: y'all gonna see this year, Yoshi's gonna really gonna come
45:15
Speaker 10: on this ship.
45:15
Speaker 1: He's teaching you things.
45:17
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
45:18
Speaker 10: I can always learn from the other receivers, you know
45:19
Speaker 10: what I mean.
45:20
Speaker 4: I learned from.
45:21
Speaker 10: Chase, I learned from Charlie, I learned from Jamain. I
45:23
Speaker 10: learned from everybody. And I just do anything to put,
45:26
Speaker 10: you know, put in my bag.
45:27
Speaker 1: So so if he's taking those kinds of strides knowing
45:31
Speaker 1: that the Bengals have the best one two punch in
45:33
Speaker 1: the league with you and Jamar, I mean, is this
45:37
Speaker 1: three headed monster.
45:38
Speaker 10: Definitely could be? You know, that's what we're looking forward
45:41
Speaker 10: to doing. Obviously, y'all see him. He's got bigger, and
45:44
Speaker 10: he got stronger.
45:45
Speaker 5: He didn't got.
45:46
Speaker 10: Faster, he's twitcher and he's just he know everything right now.
45:51
Speaker 10: And man, it's just it's been great.
45:52
Speaker 1: To see Andre has ten touchdown catches in his first
45:55
Speaker 1: two seasons and for what it's worth. That's more than
45:59
Speaker 1: Zay Flowers or Puka Nakua, who are also taken in
46:03
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three draft topic number four. You get
46:08
Speaker 1: what you emphasize. Al Golden uses an acronym to sum
46:13
Speaker 1: up his defensive philosophy. Its best B E, S, T.
46:18
Speaker 1: The B is for ball disruption, E is for effort,
46:22
Speaker 1: S is for situational masters, and T is for tackling.
46:28
Speaker 1: That first letter B for ball disruption really stands out
46:31
Speaker 1: at practice because the defense begins the day by going
46:35
Speaker 1: through four stations where they work at punching, stripping, and
46:40
Speaker 1: ripping the ball away. Here's Logan Wilson on how Golden
46:44
Speaker 1: has everybody focusing on forcing turnovers.
46:49
Speaker 11: Just always finding ways to affect the ball. I mean
46:50
Speaker 11: even in our daily unit defensive meeting tests, like where
46:54
Speaker 11: he'll he'll bring certain situations up based on how the
46:57
Speaker 11: ball carrier is holding the ball, how we're going to
46:59
Speaker 11: attack it, where our profile is, are we behind him,
47:01
Speaker 11: are were in front of him, around the side of him,
47:03
Speaker 11: like all those different things. So that becomes second nature.
47:06
Speaker 11: We're not thinking about it in the game, and when
47:09
Speaker 11: you're always harping on it and you're always working it
47:11
Speaker 11: just like I said, it just becomes second nature and
47:12
Speaker 11: it's just and then that translates the turnovers in the.
47:15
Speaker 1: Games, those four little stations. There's something a little bit
47:18
Speaker 1: different about each thing.
47:20
Speaker 11: Right, Yes, Yeah, it's about how you're attacking the ball.
47:22
Speaker 11: Are you ripping it or you punt? Are you Rodeo
47:25
Speaker 11: upper cutting it, or we're near in the hand of
47:28
Speaker 11: the quarterback trying to make plays on the wall. Not
47:30
Speaker 11: necessarily just turnovers, but even batting a ball down sorry,
47:33
Speaker 11: because it could be like a third down play and
47:35
Speaker 11: you bat the ball on a complete pass and we're
47:37
Speaker 11: off the field. So those are also good ways to
47:39
Speaker 11: get quote unquote turnovers, you know what I mean.
47:41
Speaker 1: So is it the classic case of you get what
47:44
Speaker 1: you emphasize?
47:45
Speaker 11: Yeah, you get out what you put in. And like
47:47
Speaker 11: that's I mean, that's technically before practice. So like guys
47:51
Speaker 11: are choosing to come out and get those reps and
47:53
Speaker 11: we're not. He's not asking to get you fifteen reps
47:55
Speaker 11: of each one, like you're just getting one rep of
47:57
Speaker 11: each And so when you're just constantly adding layers to
47:59
Speaker 11: your to your game, like I said, it becomes second
48:02
Speaker 11: eh strong game days and even in practice when we
48:04
Speaker 11: hit training camp, so that we're because when we're always
48:07
Speaker 11: punching at the ball, it's gonna it's not only gonna
48:08
Speaker 11: help us defensive, but it's gonna help our office too.
48:11
Speaker 1: Al Golden's Notre Dame defense had thirty three takeaways last year.
48:15
Speaker 1: That was two more than any other team in the country.
48:19
Speaker 1: My fifth and final observation involves tight end Mike Gasicki.
48:24
Speaker 1: There's always a period early in practice where the quarterbacks
48:28
Speaker 1: go through a series of drills where they work on
48:30
Speaker 1: moving around in the pocket before making off platform throws,
48:35
Speaker 1: and more often than not, the person on the receiving
48:38
Speaker 1: end of those throws is Gasicki. It made me wonder
48:42
Speaker 1: why he's the guy that gets to do that.
48:45
Speaker 12: It's because I don't run down on kickoff, for one.
48:48
Speaker 12: So they're they're they're doing special teams drills, and you know,
48:53
Speaker 12: rather than just get over there and stretching or getting
48:55
Speaker 12: ready for practice or things like that, I just follow
48:58
Speaker 12: the quarterbacks and just get over there.
49:00
Speaker 4: I like to get over there.
49:01
Speaker 12: And you know, they're they're talking about some of the
49:02
Speaker 12: player when we're running practice, some of the looks that
49:04
Speaker 12: they're expecting just things like that and then just warming
49:07
Speaker 12: up and just getting a couple of extra catches before practice.
49:10
Speaker 12: So it's just something I've always done and something I
49:12
Speaker 12: enjoy doing.
49:13
Speaker 1: I know, you catch a ton of balls off you know,
49:15
Speaker 1: your gut jugs at them and everything, but is it
49:17
Speaker 1: different just to get in extra catches from a ball from.
49:21
Speaker 12: Yeah, yeah, just because it's it's the jugs machine is
49:25
Speaker 12: such a you know, specific point and you know where
49:27
Speaker 12: it's going to be every time, and you know our
49:30
Speaker 12: quarterbacks are extremely accurate. But it's just always different catching
49:33
Speaker 12: it from from a.
49:35
Speaker 5: Human than a drugs machine.
49:36
Speaker 12: So so it's like, I like doing that before practice.
49:39
Speaker 5: Feel like it.
49:40
Speaker 12: You know, it gets me ready mentally and physically, and
49:42
Speaker 12: then you go out there and make plays.
49:43
Speaker 1: So it certainly worked last year when Mike had sixty
49:46
Speaker 1: five catches and earned a three year contract extension. That's
49:51
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the Bengals
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